Tired of labels

OPINION - Reader Views - MUCH ADO ABOUT `DOONESBURY' MOVE

January 2, 2006

Enough already! The profligate labeling of ideas as right, left, far left, far right, ad infinitum, cripples critical inquiry and is a kind of reductionism that has no place in a genuine search for truth.

Reading the letters column reveals a spate of name-calling that focuses more on the cartooning of issues and generates heat, but not very much light. Most economic and political ideas are much too complex to fit the labels applied to them, in any case. A label becomes the dead end for genuine critical inquiry and more often simply results in emotional reactions toward people rather than dispassionate examination of issues.

I have a strong suspicion that very few people would be able to agree on what is meant, for example, by the terms left, right, conservative or liberal. Each of those terms has had a different meaning at any given time in history. The result has been lots of talk, but very little communication. A judicious use of terms and a readiness to define them when requested would go a long way toward solving problems rather than simply causing people to choose sides in a game in which no one agrees upon the rules.